The Mansion
by ShinAyasaki
Summary: Dia and Mari inspect an old, rundown mansion. Then it all goes wrong... (AN - Chapter 1 is intended as pure horror. Chapter 2 is not.)
1. Chapter 1

Dia sighed in relief as she stepped beneath the antique shower head, already relaxing as the comforting warmth of water washed her stresses away. She ran her hands gently through her long raven locks as a smile came to her face. It was the first one she'd sported since stepping foot in this rundown mansion, a thought that sent her face into a frown once more.

One week ago, Mari had declared her intent to buy this aged property for renovation and conversion into a luxury hotel, and had arranged for a private inspection of the house. As her girlfriend and secretary, Dia was bound to assist.

But as soon as they entered the rundown mansion, Mari began treating the endeavor like a vacation, as if they weren't there to appraise the old building for possible renovation. Instead of carefully inspecting each room to draw out its true potential and pick out its flaws, the blonde practically ran amok, throwing open doors recklessly and marveling at the antique layout. With how carefree Mari had been, it fell to Dia to pick up the slack.

Despite the occasional creaking floor and a crumbling exterior, the mansion was decently kept and its amenities still functioned, a fact that Dia was grateful for. Still, there was something about this place that discomforted her.

She thought back to that morning, when she and Mari had first arrived in the old seaside village. The eyes of the townsfolk had followed their van almost hypnotically as it lumbered up the long and winding road towards the isolated manor. Initially, Dia had simply believed the interest to be that of curiosity regarding the possibility of new neighbors. Now though. after spending an afternoon inspecting the slumbering mansion, she wasn't so sure.

The atmosphere was welcoming enough, but she found she couldn't get used to the occasional moan of wood settling upon itself, the intermittent flickering of the electric lighting, or the strange inexplicable breezes that carried naught but cold. Certainly the mansion was old, and degradation of wiring and insulation was normal. Dia knew this. She had expected it even before they entered. Yet the ravenette just... couldn't justify it to her heart.

The storm raging outside didn't help either. On the journey over there hadn't been a cloud in the sky, but as soon as they set foot inside the mansion it was a veritable downpour, with billowing black clouds blocking out the sun as thunder and lightning lashed against the windows.

There was something fluttering in her stomach, something raw, something _primal_ , that told her this was _not normal_. But what? Why?

Suddenly the lights went out.

As the room was plunged into a shadowy abyss, Dia couldn't help but feel a chill in the air that was most definitely not there before. She inched closer to the shower head, reassured by the water's warmth. She took a deep breath. "This is an old building," Dia muttered to herself, "The lighting was going to give out sooner or later."

Putting a cap on her panic before it could begin, Dia busied herself with washing her body, her eyes closed as she focused on applying the soapy suds of her shampoo on her long and luscious locks of hair. She even started humming a tune as she rinsed, completely oblivious to what was coming.

Then the lights miraculously came back on, and Dia looked down at herself only to realize in horror that she was washing herself with blood.

* * *

Mari's footsteps echoed down the empty hallway as the blonde explored the mansion's top floor, stopping as she came to the small bedroom at the end of the hall. She opened the door slowly, peering in with curiosity to find a bedroom that looked much like all the others she'd seen. Sighing, the blonde stepped inside to examine the room more thoroughly.

With Dia in the shower, that meant Mari had little to entertain herself with, and her girlfriend had pointedly suggested she continue the appraisal of the upper rooms. The thought brought a frown to her face. Contrary to what she told Dia, her intent in coming to this old mansion was far from entrepreneurial. As much as she loved Dia, her little workaholic penguin needed a break. A vacation. And what better way was there to get her to take a vacation than by disguising it as work?

Sadly, Dia hadn't exactly gotten into the spirit of vacation. She seemed to be continuously on edge, as if wary of the house itself. Mari could empathize with the ravenette's concerns but she was nowhere near as anxious. Old mansions were just that; old mansions. But to keep Dia at ease, Mari would move mountains, and nothing kept Dia more at ease than being in control and knowing exactly what and where everything was.

Thus Mari was forced to catalog and detail every square inch of these rooms even though they were all the same. A single bed with fitted sheets, a musty old bookcase standing in a corner, a sad little dresser shoved against the wall, and... a beautiful silver vanity?

Mari blinked. Had that always been there? Perhaps the dust was getting to her.

She took a seat on the chair in front of the vanity, her eyes taking in the beautiful black mirror frame laden with ornate carvings before focusing on the mirror itself. A small sense of satisfaction rose within her. Surely Dia would appreciate this vanity set.

Seeing a strand of hair out of place, Mari reached up to smooth it down, tucking it into her braided loop. She nodded to herself, confident that Dia would love it. She sent a smile to the mirror, a gesture that was returned with a pair of golden eyes glaring back at her, angrily.

Then her reflection tore her hair out.

Mari almost tripped over herself as she stood and backed away from the mirror, chills enveloping her entire body as her breathing grew ragged in fear. In the mirror, blonde hair grayed as it fell to the floor, withered and lifeless. Mari risked a quick glance around her to check if there was anything more immediate for her to pay notice to, but there was nothing. Just her, a tidy little bedroom, and the mirror monster.

Contrary to her expectations, or perhaps in validation of them, Mari's reflection remained exactly where it was relative to the mirror. Mirror-Mari's face contorted into a smirk, her dangerous golden eyes glinting in the low light. She reached a hand below to a place out of the mirror's ability to show, as if to retrieve something from one of the vanity's drawers. Then the hand returned, grasped around the handle of a wicked looking knife.

Mari's eyes widened as her counterpart held up her free hand, slowly inching the knife towards the open palm. And without breaking her expression, Mirror-Mari ran the knife through her palm, drawing blood.

Mari grasped her hand immediately, looking wildly between it and the mirror, clutching her wrist with her other hand. There was no blood, no scar, nothing at all to indicate that what her counterpart had just done had any effect on her. But the pain was all too real.

Her attention returned to Mirror-Mari, who had dropped the knife carelessly to the floor. She made a show of taunting Mari with the blood, curling and uncurling fingers to encourage the flow of crimson lifeforce, all with a sinister smile on her face. Then she dug her other hand into the open wound and, using the bloodied hand as an artist's palette and her finger as a brush, she began to paint.

On the side of reality, Mari had backed up all the way to the wall, ragged breaths leaving her as the mirror began to become wet with blood. With each new stroke of the brush, Mari felt an unnatural cold clutch at her heart, and the frigid chill had spread everywhere as her stomach dropped. "No..." she cried softly, knuckles white as snow as her fingers practically dug into the wall. "No..."

Mirror-Mari stared at her tauntingly before fading away, leaving the mirror's face an abyss of black. Written in blood was the ominous message: DIA IS DEAD.

Mari couldn't believe it. She just couldn't believe it.

Then Dia started screaming.


	2. Chapter 2

" **DIA!** "

When Mari burst through the bathroom door in a panic, she was met with the sight of her blood-soaked girlfriend going on a tirade to a pale, transparent woman with a beautiful blue ponytail and striking lilac eyes. Contrary to expectation, it was the ghost that was looking scared.

"...the single most juvenile practical joke in a ghost's entire repertoire!" ranted Dia. "And furthermore, you're using the wrong type of blood!"

"Excuse me?!" sputtered Kanan in bewilderment.

"You should be using type-O, not type-AB! This would have been perfect for Mari, but I'm type A you know! What if I had an open wound? Are you even aware of the consequences of improper blood transfusions?!"

"Wait a minute, how do you even know what type of blood I'm using?"

"Please! It's insultingly easy to taste the difference!" snapped Dia, flipping her hair to show her attitude.

Kanan just shot her a look of abject disbelief.

It was then that Dia took notice of the blonde's presence. "Ah. Mari. This is Matsuura Kanan-san. Our resident mischievous _and incredibly rude_ poltergeist."

Mari stared. "You're... okay?" she asked hesitantly. "I thought... I saw..."

Dia sighed. "I am fine. Whatever you saw was just Kanan-san being a mean-spirited nuisance."

The ghost shrugged. "What can I say?" she offered, "It's joke." Dia only glared at her in response.

Mari took a bit to exhale in relief at how her girlfriend was very much alive and very much okay. Then she finally turned her gaze to Kanan, and any last vestiges of this being a horror story went out the window.

"Oh my!" exclaimed Mari, "We're being haunted by a _SEXY_ ghost?!" She made sure to say the word 'sexy' in English to emphasize how important that part was.

The ghostly girl's cheeks got a little less pale, like if she was blushing in embarrassment. "Oh. Um… I suppose you could say that, if you find that sort of thing… uh… sexy," she managed.

"Indeed I do," flirted Mari with an easy smile, fluttering her eyelashes.

Kanan gave her a small smile in return. "You're pretty cute yourself," she said.

"Hey! That's my girlfriend you know!" snapped Dia.

"I can't help it if she's interested," replied Kanan in a failed attempt at a placating tone.

An anger mark appeared on the back of the ravenette's head, and she reached for her hairspray and her emergency lighter. Without further adieu she lit the small fire and depressed the bottle's trigger, unleashing a gout of flame.

Kanan's eyes widened and she flinched away, her ghostly form almost tripping on whatever it was that ghosts could trip on. "Watch it!" she exclaimed, "That thing's really hot!"

"If there's one thing I've learned from Pokémon, it's that fire is effective against ghosts!" growled Dia threateningly, snuffing her lighter.

"So is water," added Mari. She smiled mischievously. "And once you're wet, licking and biting become super effective!"

Kanan's blush was now luminescent and Mari was about go in for the kill, but of course Dia had other ideas.

"Not true," she interrupted, killing the mood with factoids, "Ghost and dark type moves do not require the target ghost being hit with a water type move to ensure supereffectiveness." She paused to think. "Though another possible albeit unlikely strategy would be to trick the opponent into holding a Ring Target to remove its immunities to normal and fighting moves."

"Why Dia, you want to put a ring on it? Even I wouldn't move that fast!" exclaimed Mari. She hummed in faux-contemplation. "Though I wouldn't mind if it meant we got to use a _Quick Attack_ to _Bind_ her into _Submission_ , then give her a _Helping Hand_ so she'll have a nice _Rest_ after reaching an _Explosion_. Then we give her a nice _Wake-Up Slap_ so we can get our _Revenge_ all night long! Quite a _Nasty Plot_ , wouldn't you say?"

"What does any of that have to do with Pokémon?" asked Dia in genuine confusion.

At this point Mari could only facepalm at her oblivious girlfriend.

"Anyways!" interjected Kanan. "This has been fun and all, but I think it's time for me to take my leave-"

"Oh no you don't!" snapped Dia. "You're going to replace all this blood with water so I can have a proper shower!"

The ghost sighed. She slowly waved an arm towards the shower in a show of mysticism. Soon there was clean, pure water flowing through the pipes once again. With another grumble about obnoxious phantoms, Dia stepped back into the bathtub to scrub the blood off her body.

Kanan's ghostly eyes were drawn to Dia's figure, blurred though it was by the shower curtain. She glanced to Mari, who had decided to pass the time by reading the backs of Dia's shampoo and conditioner products. With the blonde engrossed in her reading, Kanan deftly stuck her head through the curtain to get a better view of Dia as she showered.

"My, what a naughty ghost!"

Kanan whirled, almost tripping over her incorporeal feet as she turned to find Mari's face right next to hers, the blonde donning a mischievous cat smile. "Are you realizing how beautiful she is underneath all that blood?" she asked with a giggle.

"I wasn't...! That's not...!" stuttered Kanan.

"Do I need to get my flamethrower again?" threatened Dia from within.

"I have a better idea," chirped Mari. "Dia! Has the blood rinsed off yet?"

"Thankfully yes, though I still need to shower properly."

" _Excellente_!"

The next thing Kanan knew, Mari's clothes were falling to the floor and the shameless blonde literally walked right through her to join Dia in the shower. Kanan felt a chill go up her incorporeal spine as Mari entered her, and the ghost nearly fell to her knees with how stimulated she felt from such a simple action.

The way Dia scolded her, the way Mari flirted with her... it made her feel _alive_.

"Kanan! We can hear you shivering out there by yourself. Come on in and join us!" beckoned Mari.

"Yes," agreed Dia, "You made quite a mess earlier and I expect you to clean me. Thoroughly."

With invitations like that, how could she refuse? "I-I'm coming!" she replied as she passed through the shower curtain.

"Not without us you're not."

 **~END~**


End file.
